Until You Die
by ZeMonstarrOfSquishy
Summary: Some people are average, normal, even typical. Others are special, they have talents that get them noticed, some of them even become famous, like celebrities. I don't fit in to any of those categories. In fact, I don't know if there is a category for people like me.


Chapter 1

Some people are average, normal, even typical. Others are special, they have talents that get them noticed, some of them even become famous, like celebrities.

I don't fit in to any of those categories. In fact, I don't know if there **is **a category for people like me.

I grew up as every other normal kid does, the only unusual thing about me was that I was adopted when I was four. I can't remember my life before then- my parents don't know either, either that or they aren't telling me anything. Now you may be thinking 'What's so unusual about her?' You'll find that out later.

My prom, ironically, was the event that changed my life forever, well, noticeably.

My best friend, Eli, was the one who finally succeeded in persuading me to go. I didn't like the thought of prom, the loud music, scantily clothed girls and the leering guys. His mum was making him go and I think he just wanted someone to suffer it with him. Only adding to my misery, I knew that Miriam would be there.

Miriam was the most popular and, in my opinion, the nastiest girl in the school- wait, no, the town. She had long dyed black hair and ice blue eyes that were always criticizing others that were in lesser positions than she was. I always wondered how she could wear so little and not freeze, or get goose-bumps, I guess it's because she's as cold inside as she is on the outside. She was a top class flirt, flaunting what she only had through plastic surgery. She enjoyed hurting me the most though, I don't know why she chose me, but it was the way it was.

I don't know how Eli got me to agree to go.

Most people could never say no to Eli. Being top of the class, the most handsome and fittest boy in school, half of the female population were after him, the rest being their mothers. I would walk down the school corridors and hear whispers about him, about how 'his hair is that gorgeous dark golden and so windswept too, the way it brushes the nape of his neck,' and how 'his eyes are so green, like a forest green and sometimes, yeah, you could see tiny gold flecks.' I thought he was handsome too, but that didn't mean that I had a crush on him like everyone else. Okay, yes, he was 6 ft, he had hair that hairdressers fought over, his eyes were lovely and slanted, with lashes that a girl would kill for. He also had a cheeky white grin and light stubble to give him just the right amount of dishevelled to look cool. What's the big deal?

Miriam obviously thought he was a big deal since she had been after him since fourth grade. He was the one person that could cement her popularity, as he was the most popular guy in school. Luckily, Eli had enough common sense to know that she was a predator and had often said that he didn't want to be the kinda guy that dated a thousand different girls, because it took the meaning out of 'love'. My mum liked to think that someday we'd get married, but we'd just pull 'yuck' faces behind her back. People often thought that we were going out, adding another reason for Miriam to lavish unwanted attention on Eli, but we would never even consider it. Eli was just my best friend and although we hadn't talked about it, I was sure that he felt the same way.

I hadn't done anything special for my prom, I didn't want to make a fuss since I would be leaving early anyway. I'd just slipped on a cute dress, my black bowler hat and some brown leather brogues. I left my blonde hair down, just ruffling the curls a bit.

My mother wasn't terribly happy with it, but at least it was a bit smarter than usual.

The night was dark and, although you see patches of stars, wasn't clear. The air was cool and there was a light breeze, as I walked up to where Eli was waiting for me at the iron school gates. He hadn't done anything special either, but it looked like his mom had got to him as well. His hair was slicked back from his face, coolly casual with black jeans, a new white shirt and an open black blazer.

I smirked at him, "Going to school, are we?" I asked, hooking my arm with his, "I was under the impression that we were going to a cattle market- oh, I mean the school disco which I have been looking forward to _all_ month!" I said, beaming sarcastically. Eli snorted, "You don't look like you've been getting ready for the past week, Lorelei." He said, beginning to walk us towards the school. I rolled my eyes, "It's better than looking like Miriam!" I said, laughing as he shuddered, "Yeugh, I'm not looking forward to this."

I saw the flashing lights and felt the vibrations of the music even while we were outside the school and I stopped, jerking Eli to a halt, "Do I have to go, E?" I said, clutching his arm tight and looking up at him desperately. Eli smiled, white teeth flashing between his lips, "You'll be fine, sweetheart."He said softly, lacing his fingers with mine, holding my hand to give me the support I needed.

Then we walked in.

It was more awful than I had imagined, the pounding music, the stench of sweat, the body heat and the crush of people made it almost unbearable_._ Seriously, you hear of these beautiful proms held in castles with decent people and then you come to our school prom.

What a reality check.

Eli was still holding my hand, a bit tighter now as he looked around the room with a faint look of horror on his handsome features. In the middle of the room, I could see a sparkly and scantily clad figure wiggling her hips and sliding her arms around a boy's neck, her sleek black hair swishing behind her. Miriam.

I quickly pulled Eli to the coat stand, hanging up my black military jacket and bowler hat, then turning to Eli, "Why did your mom want you to come to _this?" _I asked, wrinkling my nose in disgust. Eli shrugged, looking blank, "I have no idea..." He said, shoving his hand in his pockets. I sighed and refused an offer to dance, making Eli laugh.

I stayed like that for the rest of the night, as Eli asked this lonely looking girl to dance out of compassion. It was disgusting, watching the girls sell themselves and the guys eyeing and comparing them to others. I rolled my eyes and began squeezing my way through the throngs to get to the drinks table. Guys frowned at my clothes, probably wondering why I wasn't half-naked while girls just sneered at me. The drinks table finally came into view when somebody smacked into me.

Great.

An offended gasp came from the person then a shriek as I turned to see who it was. Can anyone guess? If you said 'Ronald McDonald' then you're wrong, but if you said, 'Miriam Queen-of-the-Sluts' then you would be smurfin' straight.

An icy blue glare was turned on me, her mouth already set into an expression of disgust and fury, "How. _Dare. _You!" She hissed through her clenched teeth while I tried to remain impassive.

"You might get frown marks if you keep frowning like that, _dear _Miriam." I said sweetly, an 'I'm oh-so-innocent' look on my face. Suddenly, my head snapped sideways and a warm liquid started trickling down my face, I reached my hand up as everyone around me laughed, and gently touched the side of my face, wincing as it stung. I looked at my hand and wasn't surprised to find it was bloody. She smiled sweetly, "Oh dear! You know, you really should be more careful, _dear." _She said, obviously preparing for battle. Then a jock approached, bringing her drink, "Hey, darling, I got something to show you." He said, leading her away.

I stood, open-mouthed, as she giggled and minced, acting like the idiotic flirt she was, while the blood flowed down my face. The nerds backed away, looking scared when she passed them and then, I had finally had enough.

A tidal wave of anger crashed down upon me, released at last. I glared at Miriam, wishing that the huge vat of punch that she was suggestively playing with, would pour right over her.

Eli approached me, looking furious and concerned, the lonely girl hanging off his arm, looking slightly worried. Then he stopped, looking slightly confused.

I clenched my hands into fists, my eyes practically boring holes in Miriam. I swiped my hand over my bloody face and then stretched it out before me, and a tiny drop of blood fell onto the floor. The precise moment the droplet of blood burst on the linoleum floor, two things happened. One, a firework of anger burst in me and the huge vat of punch fell straight over Miriam.

A blood-curdling scream filled the noisy room as the gush of drink had taken most of her tooth-floss dress with it, leaving Miriam, stick-thin, dyed hair plastered to her leaky heavily made-up face.

I felt an arm grab mine and roughly drag me outside. Eli looked furious, but there was a touch of something else as well, something that looked a lot like fear.

He spun me around as it began to rain, "Tell me." Was all he said, letting go of me quickly, like I was something filthy. I looked at him as if he were a stranger, "Eli?" I whispered, worry creeping upon me. Eli refused to look at me, "Tell. Me. _Why_ won't you _freaking tell _me _what_ just happened in there?!" He yelled, a grumble of thunder following his outburst as the rain pelted down, almost like it was punishing us.

I took a step back from him, shell-shocked, "I don't know, Eli, because I don't know." I said, my voice reduced to a scared whisper, "I don't know what happened."

That didn't help.

Eli punched the wall, his knuckles splitting open upon impact, "I DON'T BELIEVE YOU! You expect me to believe that you don't know _how _you managed to tip that vat of punch over that slut while you stood 3 meters away!?" I took in a shaky breath, walking towards, hands out-stretched to examine his wounds, until he flung me back, my head thrown back sharply into the brick school. Spots danced before my eyes, but I hardly noticed as tears started to run down my face, indistinguishable from the drops of rain that almost blinded me.

Eli had balled his hands into fists like I had done a couple of minutes ago and I watched the blood drip off his knuckles. I looked back up at him, "I have no idea what that was, _why won't you believe me?" _I shouted back at him, my voice going hoarse from tears.

Eli finally looked at me and when he did, I immediately wished that he hadn't. His normally friendly expression was gone and in its place was an expression of disgust, loathing and worst of all, utter hatred.

I couldn't believe that it was him. Only a couple of hours ago, he was holding my hand and telling me that everything would be okay and now... I wasn't sure it _was _him, the way he was looking at me was so alien to everything that he was. How could he change so quickly?

"Don't contact me. Don't you dare contact me again, you _witch." _He bit the last part out and strode away, back into the party, leaving me cold, alone and crying in the rain.

The walk home was dismal.

My feet dragged across the ground as rain beat down on me, soaking me just as much as Miriam had been. Even the moon was hidden from view by the dark angry clouds, I had left my jacket and hat back at the party, my dress was plastered to me like my hair was and my icy hands just cooled me further.

I finally saw the warm glow of my house, the light defying the storm and misery of the night. As I approached, I saw my mum chatting away happily on the phone, gesturing as she spoke. I almost didn't want to return like this, wet, miserable and pathetic.

I rapped the door knocker weakly, feeling weirdly dizzy. I leant on it for support and fell straight into my dad's arms when he opened it.

"Wh- why- JUNE!" My dad yelled, scooping me up in his warm arms. Mum rushed out of the living room as I shivered, my lips blue. Mum gasped, but didn't hesitate in running upstairs immediately to bundle me in once she had taken off my sodden clothing. When she had finished, she called for dad to come and place me next to the fire, "What happened, darling?" He whispered, concernedly, stroking my hair softly. I winced and gasped as his hand brushed the cut that ran across my head and he drew his hand back sharply as he noticed the blood for the first time. I burst into tears again as I saw the expression in his eyes, complete shock, like I felt at Eli's betrayal. I felt an awful stinging sensation on my head, making me cry out in pain and I looked up to see my mum's mouth set in a grim line.

"What happened?" My dad asked again, giving me some of his coffee which I choked on. I thought for a moment, what should I tell them? I thought about just telling them the whole story, but quickly dismissed that idea, "I had a fight with Miriam and... Eli... He pushed me into a wall... He was- he was angry at me... Won't be seein' him again..." I said, drowsily and luckily, they couldn't question me, because I fell into a nightmarish sleep.

MFOWMFOWMFOWMFOWMFOWMFOWMFOW MFOWMFOWMFOWMFOWMFOWMFOWMFOW 

Light filtered in through my closed eyelids.

Groaning, I stretched out beneath the warm covers and opened my eyes and quickly closed them again, the sun making my head ache. I got out of bed, slipping my feet into my fluffy slippers, and walked downstairs, "Mum...?" I called, looking around for my parents, my mum poked her head around the door, "Darling! How are you?"

I smiled groggily at her, sitting down on a chair, "I think I'm fine- my head hurts a bit though. I'll be okay." I said, accepting the steaming mug of coffee that she handed me. Her green eyes crinkled at the edges as she smiled, "That's great, just tell me if you need paracetamol. Your father's gone to Bob and Carol's, he'll be back soon." My eyes widened as I looked at the clock behind me, "Mum! It's four o'clock! Why didn't you wake me up?!" I had _never _woken up this late before.

Mum rolled her eyes at me, "Um, Lore, you have a four inch cut on the back of your head and scratches on the side of your face. Plus, you could have contracted pneumonia. Do you _really _think that I would have let you go to school?" She said, calmly taking a bite out of her cinnamon biscuit. I sighed and slumped back into my chair, "I s'pose."

Mum looked at me levelly, "Lorelei, I know that it'll be hard for you to explain to me what happened last night, but, please, I need to know." She said, laying a hand on my arm. I looked fixedly at a abstract canvas that hung over the counter, "Will you promise that you won't take action against the school? Or the people who did this? I just need it to blow over."

Mum nodded, "Understood."

I took a deep breath, hoping that I was strong enough not to start crying again, "I poured a vat of punch over Miriam after she had scratched me down the face. I don't know why Eli reacted the way he did, but he got real mad and pushed me into the side of the school, the brick cut me." I said, wincing at the memory, "Eli told me that we weren't friends anymore and that I shouldn't try and contact him again. Then he went back to the prom..." I finished, looking down at my clasped hands, the blue nail polish already peeling of my nails.

Mum's jaw was set and her eyes were flashing, but there was confusion in them as well, "Eli Langston shoved you into a wall, then let you walk home in torrential rain without your jacket or hat." She stated, her knuckles white as she grasped the mug tightly.

My heart sped up in worry, "Mum, please don't confront him or Eva, or Miriam for that matter. I just want everything to go back to normal and what good would it do any of us. I need to get over this quickly and dragging it out won't help." I said, my voice tinted with urgency. Eva was Eli's mum, she was lovely and I'm sure would be horrified at what Eli had done since I was like the daughter she never had, but I wasn't sure if Eli had told her. I suspected that he wouldn't, maybe he would lie about me. I didn't know him anymore.

Mum nodded, "I know, sweetie... I'm just so shocked that... _Eli_... Would do that to _you _of all people." She said, looking floored and letting her coffee grow cold. I smiled weakly and got up, "I'm going to go shower." I said, deciding to let her absorb the news. She smiled back at me quickly, but it didn't reach her eyes, "Okay, hun."

I padded upstairs, my head filled with thoughts and excuses for Eli's behaviour. He had over-reacted, surely? Well, he had just seen his best friend do something completely inexplicable. Then I paused mid-step, I hadn't thought about what I had done last night.

How_ had_ I _done _that?

I thought about possible explanations. Maybe somebody had pushed it? No- it was in the middle of the table. Maybe Miriam had slipped? That seemed more likely, but I hadn't seen her slip, she had looked pretty stable. I sighed, I had _felt _the power that had made that huge vat fall on Miriam. It was like Roald Dahl's The Magic Finger, it was almost the same feeling- the tingling sensation anyway. Deep inside, I _knew _that I had done it, but I desperately wanted to deny it. That would make me a freak... Or maybe something worse. Like Eli had said, maybe I was a witch?

I shut my eyes tightly, telling myself that that couldn't possibly be the case. Maybe I should ask my parents about it, but then I didn't want them to reject me as well.

And if I couldn't tell my parents, then who could I tell?


End file.
